It's Over: Jmu Halts Odu Streak

Monarch Women's Caa Run Ends At 49

The way Old Dominion has dominated Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball in the '90s, people had to wonder if the Monarchs ever would lose again to one of their seven conference rivals.

That time came Sunday, when hot-shooting James Madison's 87-80 victory in Harrisonburg ended ODU's record streak of 49 victories against CAA opponents.

``We've been waiting a long time for parity in our conference, and today it happened,'' ODU coach Wendy Larry said. ``I'll go on record that the best team won.''

The Dukes, known more for their defense than their offense, made 16 of 20 field-goal attempts (80 percent) in the second half after shooting just 34 percent in the first half. Overall, they made 27 of 32 free throws (84 percent), while ODU was 12-for-23 (52 percent) at the foul line.

``We got some good shots in the first half,'' JMU coach Shelia Moorman said. ``The difference in the second half was they went in.''

The victory dropped the Monarchs (20-5, 9-1 CAA) into second place behind JMU (17-6, 10-1) and hurt their hopes of reaching the nation's top 25. If both teams do the expected by winning the rest of their league games, a coin flip will decide the top seed for the March 9-11 conference tournament at the ODU Field House. ODU has won all three CAA tourneys in which it has participated.

JMU had set the previous CAA-record winning streak, 46, beginning in the 1985-86 season - long before ODU joined the league. The Dukes had lost five straight times to the Monarchs, including a 68-64 decision Jan. 6 in Norfolk.

``Throw the textbook out,'' Moorman said. ``This is a win of the heart. It's a thrill for all of us, a reward for hard work.''

The loss spoiled a brilliant performance by ODU junior forward Sarah Willyerd. She scored a career-high 25 points and also led the Monarchs with eight rebounds.

But another forward named Sarah - JMU sophomore Sarah Schreib - did even better. She had a career-high 30 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Schreib, who's 5-foot-11, scored many of her points by using superior quickness to beat a much taller defender, 6-5 sophomore Clarisse Machanguana. The Dukes faced a decided height disadvantage, but they outrebounded ODU 37-36.

``It's the biggest win I've had in my career,'' Schreib said. ``We were determined to take it to them and not be intimidated by their size.''

``I have the utmost respect for Sarah Schreib,'' Larry said. ``I didn't see her make a mistake today.''

JMU point guard Holly Rilinger, a sophomore transfer, had 20 points and went 7-for-10 from the field. Her ODU counterpart, Ticha Penicheiro, had 16 points.

The Dukes led most of the first half, extending the margin to 25-15 with 8:59 left. But just before intermission, Willyerd made a 3-pointer, then sank a spinning jumper at the buzzer to give ODU a 34-33 halftime lead.

JMU regained the momentum to start the second half. Twelve seconds into the half, two Schreib free throws gave the Dukes the lead for good at 35-34.

The Dukes' biggest lead was 59-48 with 10:32 to go, but the Monarchs got their offense untracked and clawed back. They came within four points on five occasions, the last being 81-77 with 51 seconds left, but JMU sealed the triumph by consistently hitting free throws and stopping ODU.

As some in the Convocation Center crowd of 2,450 chanted ``over-rated'' in reference to ODU, the Dukes led 87-77 before Penicheiro's 3-pointer at the buzzer.

``I saw some weariness in our players and I thought about substituting, but then I decided they've just got to suck it up and take it home,'' Moorman said.